MSNBC's Joe Scarborough took aim at Republicans who are indulging anti-vaxxers as COVID-19's delta variant rips through the South and Midwest.
Vaccine hesitancy is strongly correlated with support for Donald Trump, and the virus is especially prevalent in areas that backed him in the last election, but the "Morning Joe" host pointed out that many Republicans have been vaccinated against the deadly virus, even as GOP elected officials and conservative media question its safety and effectiveness.
"I will say that when it comes to vaccines, it's really interesting because, again, most of the people I know are Trump supporters, most of my family members Trump supporters," Scarborough said. "It's fascinating that what I'm starting to find, I saw yesterday in a tweet with David French and Eric Eriksson, where they say a good number of people who voted for Donald Trump are sort of rolling their eyes at the anti-vaxxers that are making all of this noise and that are causing all of this chaos."
"Eric was talking about inside of his church, more and more people, as weeks go by, in his evangelical church are just saying these people are making fools of themselves, and they're making us all a lot less safe," Scarborough added. "David French, an evangelical in Tennessee, saying the same thing. I'm hearing the same thing. I talked to people who had their Trump flags up until like last week, we were sitting, talking, I was sitting talking to one of them, and we're sitting there talking, walking around, I said, 'How are you doing, are you feeling okay?' He said, 'Yep, my wife and I got the vaccine the second we could get it.' I said, 'You got the vaccine?' 'Of course, I got the vaccine, you think I'm an idiot?'"
Scarborough said Republican elected officials are shooting themselves in the foot by rejecting common-sense safety measures against the pandemic.
"I know how politicians are acting in certain red states," he said. "I'm telling you, as they continue to drill down to try to find the lowest common denominator, they are actually breaking their party in two, and it may help them with what they consider to be their base, but it's not helping them bring that party together."
"It's short-term, I think it's dangerous," Scarborough added. "I don't think it helps the Republican Party in the long-term because there are a ton of Republicans out there that have been vaccinated, who also are rolling their eyes at the unvaccinated and people who are spreading these wild conspiracy theories."
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